The Morning After
by CSHayden
Summary: A little interlude in the lives of Krillin & #18 -- tangy citrus aftertaste but nothing beyond soap opera.


**The Morning After**

by C.S. Hayden

All characters are the property of Akira Toriyama, DragonBall Z and Toei Animation.

It was the empty spot next to her that woke Eighteen. Rolling over and stretching out her arm, her fingers searched the mattress next to her and only found a patch of cooling warmth where he had been. She smiled into the pillow without opening her eyes as she slowly stirred, becoming aware of pleasant muscle aches and memories of the night before.

She turned onto her back and studied the patterns of sunlight and shadow on the ceiling overhead. Bulma had been so right - acting on her feelings had brought a freedom that Eighteen never thought possible. Krillin had responded passionately to her boldness and their pent-up desires had overwhelmed them both. They'd spent most of the night making love, until exhausted, they had fallen asleep in each other's arms.

"Babe?"

Dressed in a loosely tied robe, Krillin came into the room with a pot of tea, two cups, and some sliced fruit on a tray. He set the tray down on the bedside table and knelt on the floor besides the low bed, his elbows propped up on the mattress. He smiled nervously. "Morning."

Eighteen gathered the sheet modestly over her breasts and leaned forward to kiss him. "So it is," she commented wryly. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to."

He opened his eyes slowly from the kiss. "Just downstairs. I don't know about you, but I'm starving so I started some rice in the cooker and set out some things to thaw for lunch."

"Lunch?" Eighteen frowned and looked out the window at the brilliant blue sky. "Is it that late?"

"Practically." Krillin laughed and poured her a cup of green tea. "We really overslept."

"We were busy." As Krillin blushed, Eighteen slid over and patted the spot next to her. "Come here."

With his eyes on hers, Krillin stood and unbelted his robe, dropping it on the floor. "Miss me?" he asked as he settled in beneath the sheets, propping them both up so they could drink their tea.

"Yes." Eighteen leaned her shoulder against his. She noted with some amusement that she and Krillin had nearly the same body length from the hips up. Pulling her legs up so her feet were next to his, she murmured, "There - we match."

Krillin snorted and put his arm around her shoulders. "Naw, I like your long legs much better than my short stubby ones." He swished the tea around in his mouth thoughtfully. "Especially when they're wrapped around me."

"I've corrupted you, I see."

"Not hardly," he quipped. "You're talking to the apprentice that once bribed Master Roshi with a pile of hentai books."

"That explains a lot."

They didn't speak much as they snacked on fruit and tea. Their intimacy was too new and precious for either of them to want it to end just yet. Finally, Krillin put both of their cups on the table and wrapped Eighteen up in his arms.

"So, why'd you go to Bulma's yesterday?" He nuzzled her hair. "I can't help thinking that it had something to do with all this."

"I just needed to ask her about a few things. I thought I was malfunctioning." She shrugged. "Bulma ran some scans."

"Anything interesting?"

"Apparently, Dr. Gero didn't enhance everything. I still have a lot of normal human parts that still have their biological functions. Bulma says my reproductive system seems to be intact, for instance."

Krillin suddenly flinched. "What?" He pulled away from her with a panicked look in his eyes. "B-but - but we didn't - oh, no! I didn't think about that!" He began to thump himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. "I didn't use any protection - I'm so sorry, Eighteen!"

"Stop that." She reached up and took his hand. "I'm not worried, Krillin."

"But what if I got you pregnant?" Krillin's eyes were so wide that she could see her reflection in them.

"What of it?" Taking his face firmly in both hands, Eighteen kissed him, cutting off his air supply until he stopped hyperventilating. "Intact does NOT mean functional. I was in stasis for years. Bulma thinks that maybe I've started producing hormones and that's the reason that I've been feeling so odd."

"But--"

"I know what I'm talking about." She smoothed his hair back. "Remember when I first moved in and you worried because I didn't eat for two weeks?" He nodded numbly. "I'd been existing on my eternal generators so my digestive system had to get used to processing food. Even now, I still can only eat only small amounts."

"So, you think maybe it's safe?" he asked wistfully.

"Hard to say." Eighteen shrugged. "I know that my body is still recovering from being in stasis. Bulma offered to make an appointment for me with her doctor. Perhaps I'll take her up on it."

"Yes, please!" Krillin slumped back against his pillows. "Gods, that scared me."

"Why?" She retreated behind an expressionless mask as her self-doubts threatened to return. Bulma had promised not to tell Krillin what they had really discussed during Eighteen's visit - that she had suspected that Dr. Gero had used her ova to create Cell - but what if someone else had told him?

"Don't get me wrong, I love kids, it's just--" he sighed and pulled her back into his arms, "--I just want to be selfish and have you all to myself for a while." He lifted her chin towards him with one finger and smiled. "Is that so wrong?"

"No." Eighteen sighed in relief and relaxed against him. "You need the practice."

"Me?" Krillin exclaimed with a mock growl. "Why, you, I oughta--" He pounced on her playfully, alternating tickles with kisses until they were thoroughly and pleasantly entangled in the sheets.

"Oh, fine." Eighteen snorted. "Look what you've done now."

Krillin's eyes crinkled up into a smile. "This is the best part."

She raised her eyebrows.

"I mean it." His embrace grew more intense, yet still gentle. "I love feeling all of you against me like this. It's like a full-body hug." He closed his eyes. "I can feel your heart beating against mine."

Closing her eyes too, Eighteen concentrated. She could smell the warm spiciness of his skin, feel the slow lift of his chest as he breathed in and out, and as she nestled against his neck, she became aware of the low, dull throb of his heart vibrating next to hers. She opened her eyes to find Krillin gazing at her. Without saying a word, they became lost in a kiss that seemed to last forever.

The whine of a jet car landing made them both groan. "Damn," Krillin muttered as he raised up on one elbow and twisted his torso over her to look out the window. "Guess Master Roshi and Oolong finally ran out of spending money."

Eighteen didn't comment; she was too busy studying the interesting way his body was torqued into hers. She wiggled her hips under his, breath hissing through her teeth at the ticklish sensation of their bellies rubbing together.

"C'mon, babe," Krillin protested futilely as one of her arms pinned him in place across his lower back. "They're gonna be here in-ulp!" Being pulled down for a long kiss suddenly stopped his words. "Sweetheart, I ---mmmmph!"

The front door slammed downstairs. Muffled voices rose, as someone complained loudly about the rice scorching in the steamer. Footsteps thudded up the stairs and Krillin's whole body began to panic. He managed to pull away enough to stare frantically into her eyes.

"Eighteen!!" he hissed against her teeth. "They'll catch us!"

She merely smiled and nuzzled his mouth.

"Hey!" Oolong yelled, his voice echoing in the hall. "There's a big mess up here too! Geez...." He grunted and there were some rustling noises. "Clothes all over the place -- what kind of wild party was going on here and why wasn't I invited?"

Krillin bit his lip and began to laugh softly against Eighteen's neck.

"Hel-**LO**! What's this?" A spate of porcine snuffling followed. "Mmmmm..... panties."

Carefully pushing Krillin up so she could aim, Eighteen snaked her arm out and powered up two fingers. The resulting zap went between Oolong's ears and left a burnt smudge on the wall. She pursed her lips with a smug expression and slowly raked her fingers through Krillin's hair and down along his back.

"YOW!! Geez, I barely touched them! What's the big -- the big--" The talking pig was momentarily at loss for words. "Oh... my... GOD."

"What's that?" Master Roshi demanded querulously. "Where's everybody at?"

Eighteen took that moment to raise her leg and slide it along Krillin's side. The sheet slipped lower off his hips, leaving no illusions as to what they had been doing. There was a rasping gasp like a draining sink and a loud double thud as both Oolong and Roshi passed out in the hallway.

Krillin shook his head as he gazed proudly at his lover. "You are so evil."

"But you love me." Her words were stated matter-of-factly but her eyes were gleaming.

"I certainly do," he murmured, "and I certainly will but we can't just leave them out there. Their noses are bleeding all over the carpet."

"Well, we can't have that." She watched as Krillin got up and fished out a pair of shorts to put on before she wrapped the sheet around her and stepped delicately around the two perverts on the floor as she made her way to her room.

* * * * *

"Oooooh," Master Roshi moaned. "What? Where?" He blinked and realized that he was sitting down in the living room, sprawled on the couch next to Oolong.

Krillin came out of the kitchen with a steaming pot of tea. "Awake already?" he asked cheerfully. "Have some tea, Master, it'll help."

Roshi looked his old pupil over suspiciously as he slurped his tea. Krillin had that just rushed through the shower look with his wet hair, and for that matter, so did Eighteen as she puttered in the kitchen. He checked the ki levels in the house and although the cyborg didn't register, there were strong residual emanations wafting throughout the house.

"Uh-huh," he muttered. "Anything important happen while we were gone?"

Krillin smiled self-consciously. "Um, yeah, Master. You could say that."

Roshi glanced at the kitchen before standing up and motioning towards the door. "We'd better take this outside, hmm?" He waited until they were well down the beach before he grabbed Krillin by the arm. "Damn, boy!! Way to go!" Roshi gave him a lascivious wink. "Finally got some, eh?"

"Yeah, well ..." Krillin grinned sheepishly. "It really helped us to have some time alone together - thanks, Master."

There was yelling from the house and the screen door banged open. Oolong staggered out, a frying pan nearly missing his head. "Geez," the pig complained, "you'd think she'd be in a better mood, all things considered." He scowled at Krillin. "I can give you a few tips, you know."

Krillin merely rolled his eyes and laughed. "Hey, she could have just fried you instead of throwing the pan at you. Count yourself lucky!"

"Well, I'm not the only one getting lucky around here," Oolong shot back, leering at Krillin. "Nothing says 'Welcome Home' quite like being mooned in the middle of the day, eh, lover boy?"

"Now that was a sight for sore eyes," Roshi chirped up. "It's been ages since we've that kind of shenanigans around here. Woo-eee!" He elbowed his former student. "Just between us guys, how was it?" His nose began to bleed but Roshi quickly whipped out his handkerchief to take care of it.

"It was ... amazing." Krillin turned away to hide the warm flush that had come over his face. "More than I ever hoped for."

"Better than Maron?" Oolong leered. "Now that was a little hottie!"

"Nope, I'm not going there. That's ancient history," Krillin said firmly. "And I'm not going to say any more on anything else. What Eighteen and I do in private is nobody else's business."

"Aw, c'mon," Oolong whined. "That's not fair."

Master Roshi merely nodded sagely. "Now, now - we must respect their wishes, Oolong." He raised one bushy eyebrow. "But next time, remember to lock the door, hmm? My old heart can't take many more surprises like that."

"Speak for yourself, old man," Oolong snorted. "If only I hadn't left the camcorder downstairs!"

"Well, that's something that I've been wanting to talk to you about," Krillin admitted. "You've been great about letting us stay here, Master, but as soon as I can get the roof repaired on my family's old house, Eighteen and I will be moving out."

"I'll hate to see you go," Roshi replied, "but I understand. You've waited long enough, and besides, this is a bachelor establishment." He winked at Krillin. "From what I've seen, you're doomed."

Eighteen took that moment to step out onto the deck. She had tied her hair back with a bandanna but a few blonde strands blew across her face. Flicking them away, she smiled at them before going back inside.

Oolong cackled. "You have the dumbest look on your face, do you know that? You almost look like Goku. She's got you totally whipped."

"Yeah." He smiled wistfully. "Great, isn't it?"

The End. 


End file.
